Thursday, 13 April 2017

A really interesting map of Scotland

The map at just over 1,000 signatures

I've blogged before - a number of times - on maps which show the systematic difference in political culture between Scotland and England, but here's a really interesting one. This map shows the early signatories to a petition against the 'rape clause'. Why, on this issue, should there be such a sharp divide between Scotland and the rest of the UK?

Yes, OK, the campaign has been led by Alison Thewliss, an SNP MP. Yes, Nicola Sturgeon did reference it in her barnstorming interview at the Women in the World summit in New York. But this is a clause which affects women across the UK, a clause so perversely evil that it must surely offend people of any gender across the UK.

So why is Scotland so clearly delineated?

Obviously, this is early days; the petition has barely more than a thousand signatures. But it will be interesting to watch it over the next few weeks. Is Scotland not only left of the rest of Britain, but also more feminist?

Update, 14th April

Here's the map at almost 4000 signatures (coloured by % of constituents). Can you still see the Scottish border?

The map at almost 4,000 signatures

Update, 16th April

Now at 16,000 signatures, and still every constituency in mainland Scotland has more signatures than any constituency outside Scotland.